


Round here

by killerweasel



Series: It's a Small World [2]
Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-06
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2017-12-04 11:53:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/710513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lindsey finds an unexpected ally and goes on a journey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Round here

Title: Round here  
Fandom: _Angel_  
Characters: Lindsey McDonald, Illyria, Angel, assorted  
Word Count: 1,837  
Rating: R  
A/N: AU after _Underneath_  
Warnings: N/A  
Summary: Lindsey finds an unexpected ally and goes on a journey.

“No, you can’t get in to meet with her today. I told you last time that she was seeing all the leaders at the same time tomorrow.”

The man in front of me wrinkled his nose to show how disgusted he was by my comment. I stood up a little straighter. Didn’t matter if he was bigger than I was, I could seriously injure him with very little effort. Traveling around with Illyria had improved my fighting skills more than I ever thought possible.

We were on yet another one of her former worlds reminding the populations that she had returned. A few of them had been void of life, but some like this one, had continued to flourish. I was more than her Qwa’ha Xahn; I was also a bit of a bodyguard. Her current form was vulnerable in more ways than one and a well placed blow would be enough to cripple her.

That had been a lesson we’d learned the hard way on the last world we’d traveled to. One of the people managed to get by me and he’d almost killed her. Something inside of me had snapped and when I came to my senses again, they were all dead and I was bleeding from a dozen wounds that I barely felt. She hadn’t looked at me the same since. It took her almost a month to recover and I swore something like that would never happen again.

He muttered something and then his hand was flying at my face. I dodged the blow, countering it with a few of my own and when I stopped, he was writhing on the ground with my foot on his throat. I shot his people a look at they backed the hell off. I released him before crouching down. “You and yours are banned from the meeting. Everyone will know of this disgrace.”

The look on his face turned to horror. Once I’d found out the way things worked in this place, I made damn sure to follow the rules. Deals, meetings, and plans were all things I could handle. Hell, if I’d been doing this shit for Wolfram and Hart, I could certainly do it for Illyria. My hand lashed out, wrapping in his hair, and exposing more of his throat. “I should kill you, but you’ll get to live with this until the end of your days. They’ll shun you.”

I wiped my hands on my pants, as if disgusted to even have touched him before getting to my feet. “Remove him.” Illyria’s guards sprang into action, dragging the group from the building. I smiled to myself and headed into her throne room.

She didn’t smile as she saw me, but I did get a little nod. “What happened?”

“One of the clan leaders wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’s been removed.”

“Good.”

She started to say something else, but clutched her stomach. Whatever it was seemed to pass and she straightened up again. It still made me concerned. Then Illyria doubled over, panting heavily. “Something is wrong.”

I got to her side and could clearly see the pain on her features. “Tell me what I can do to help.”

A spasm tore through her body. “The shell is weakening. I can feel it beginning to break down.”

No one here would be able to help. The medical treatments were like what humans had back in the Dark Ages and I didn’t trust any of them. “Remember what I said about Angel and his people working on a way to reduce your power? They might have something that will help. Your body can’t handle what you are.”

There was fear in her eyes when she looked at me. I’d never seen that before and it made me very nervous. “I would not be who I am.”

“You might not have the power and the strength, but you would be alive. Unless you have a way of transferring into another host, I think that might be our only option.”

“No host would be able to hold this much power, the result will always be the same.”

It made me wonder what she’d been like originally, but if we couldn’t find her a new body, she was going to have to fix the one she was currently in. “I won’t let them kill you.”

I helped Illyria to her feet and she opened a portal. We stepped through together and found ourselves surrounded by Wolfram and Hart security. The building’s alarms must have gone off to warn them. They moved out of the way to let Angel through and he did a double-take when he saw me. “Why did you come back?”

I felt another tremor go through her frame. “She needs help, Angel. Her body is breaking down.”

“And why should I give a damn, Lindsey? She killed Fred.”

It took a great deal of effort not to lunge forward and punch him in the face. I swear he was dense on purpose. “Do you have any idea what might happen if that amount of energy gets loose? It could wipe out the entire city, maybe more.”

That seemed to get his attention. “Come with me, but you’d better behave yourselves.”

The guards backed off and we followed him to a lab. “Where the hell have you two been? You were gone for six months.”

“It’s only been six months here?” Time had passed differently on each of the worlds we’d been to. “We’ve been gone for at least a year.”

“That explains your hair. And those scars are rather impressive. Who’d you piss off?”

“They were some kind of demon. You try taking on twelve guys almost twice your size with four arms and see how well you do.” Bet he wouldn’t last five minutes up against something like that.

The ex-Watcher came into the room and stared at Illyria for a moment. “I didn’t think you’d come back.”

“The shell...” She paused. “Winifred Burkle is breaking down.”

“I should let you die.”

I moved and he found himself slammed up against the wall with a knife at his throat. “You are going to fix her. She didn’t pick the host, it could have been anyone. She’s not your girlfriend and she sure as hell didn’t kill her. Shit happens. Get over it. If you don’t do something, we’re all going to die.”

Angel’s hand landed on my shoulder and I managed to keep myself from stabbing him or his friend. “Let go of him, Lindsey.” His voice was low and dangerous, but it no longer scared me.

“Promise me that if I let go, you won’t kill either one of us. I didn’t come here to fight, but I will if that’s what it takes.”

“Why do you care, Lindsey?”

I turned my head to see his face, not loosening my grip on the man in front of me. “She can see me for what and who I am, she always has.”

Illyria cried out and I closed my eyes. “I swear to you, you won’t be killed. Let Wesley go so he can save her.”

I released my hold and kept a wary eye on him as he started to grab some things. Angel let go of my shoulder, but didn’t move away from me. “When this is finished, I want the two of you as far from here as possible. Don’t come back.”

“I didn’t plan on it.”

“You know the Senior Partners will hunt you down, right?”

“I have a feeling you and your friends will keep them busy. Did you pull that guy out of hell yet?”

“Yeah, Wesley figured out a way to remove him without leaving someone else behind.”

“Good, no one deserves that place, not even me.”

We both looked up when Wesley cleared his throat. “I can’t promise this won’t kill her. We haven’t tested it yet. It should take the majority of her power.”

I stared at the thing in his hands. “That looks like a gun.” If he killed her, he would be the first to fall and then I’d make damn sure Angel didn’t get any revenge.

“It’s not a gun.”

“We need to move somewhere else. The training room should work.”

I stayed by Illyria’s side, shooting the two of them glances when they got too close. As we came through the door, she screamed in pain. I could see a blue tear in her skin. “Do something, damn it!”

The tear grew larger with blue light spilling out. I backed away from her as Wesley brought the thing he was holding up. It seemed to work the same way as a gun. He pulled the trigger and there was a blinding flash and then we could see energy being drawn from her body. When it stopped she collapsed onto the floor.

I crouched down next to Illyria. She was shaking, but otherwise seemed to be unharmed. The tear in her cheek had been replaced by a scar. I reached out and gently traced it with my fingertip. “Are you okay?”

“I feel... odd.”

She leaned on me as she got to her feet. Angel and Wesley were watching the two of us and the expression on Angel’s face was something I couldn’t read. “Thank you for helping her.”

Angel came over to us and pressed a set of keys into my palm. “The car is in the garage. Take it and go. I can’t promise to keep the Senior Partners off your asses.”

“I’ve vanished before; I can do it again if that’s what it takes.” I chewed my bottom lip for a moment. “If you were feeling really nice, you could void my contract. The CEO has the power to do something like that. Then they’d have no claim on me.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Wesley was looking at Illyria and as I watched, she let her face shift. Now I knew what the shell had looked like. I saw something inside of him break just a little more before he turned and walked away. By the time she was facing me, she’d returned to normal again.

Once we were in the car and on the road, I knew she was going to be okay. She’d adapt. “You’ll have to look human when you’re in public. Can you shift into someone else or can you only look like the shell?”

“Is this what you mean?”

I turned my head and smiled. Illyria didn’t look like the woman she used to be, but she wasn’t blue either. “That’s exactly what I mean. Can you stay that way for longer periods of time?”

“I... do not know.”

“We’ll figure it out.” I turned the corner, getting onto the highway. “Is there anywhere you’d like to go? I think you’ll find the world is very different now.”

“I wish to see this Oklahoma you spoke of.”

The smile on my face grew a little wider. “I think you’ll like it there.”


End file.
